This invention relates to an agricultural implement and in particular to a movable endgate which prevents spillage through the beater section of a manure spreader during transport to the field.
Most manure spreaders are tractor drawn. In recent machines, power to drive the unloading mechanism is taken from the power-take-off of the tractor. Additionally, the tractor may furnish a supply of hydraulic fluid to actuate certain functions on the spreader.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,735 to Pengrio and assigned to the same assignee as this application, illustrates the functioning of the drive system which is attached to the power-take-off of the tractor. A main drive shaft extends down the side of the spreader box. The front end of the shaft is connected by chain and sprocket means to a short PTO shaft positioned on the tongue of the spreader. This short shaft is coupled to and receives power from the PTO of the tractor. At the rear corner of the spreader box, the drive shaft is coupled to the beater and apron conveyor gear boxes by clutch and sprocket means. The clutch and sprocket sequencing arrangement makes it possible for the spreader operator to (1) begin by driving the beater mechanism while keeping the apron conveyor in neutral, (2) shift to operate the conveyor at a slow speed while continuing to drive the beater, (3) shift to drive the conveyor at a second and faster speed while the beater continues at the regular speed, and (4) shift to a clean-out configuration wherein the beater mechanism is declutched while the apron conveyor continues to move at the same fast speed as pertained in step (3).
Movable endgates for manure spreaders are known in the prior art. In one embodiment an endgate was placed just in front of the beaters. This endgate was positioned in slots on either sidewall of the spreader. A rack and pinion mechanism allows the operator to crank the gate up when he reaches the field where the manure is to be spread. A second prior art embodiment utilizes a swinging endgate fixedly attached to a generally U-shaped structural member. The U-shaped member, in the gate down position, lies generally in a horizontal orientation with the central region spanning the width of the spreader box, just in front of the beaters. The open end of the U-shaped structural member faces forward and the forward most end of each leg is pivotally mounted to the top edge of the box, one end on either side of the spreader. When the endgate is swung upward around the pivot points of the structural member, it traverses an arc and the endgate surface will be generally parallel to the top of the spreader box when the structural member has traversed through an arc of 90 degrees.
Our invention improves on the second prior art embodiment. We utilize a generally U-shaped, box-spanning structural member. The endgate, however, is hinge mounted to the throat section of the U-shaped member. This allows the gate to hang down in a generally vertical orientation when the gate is raised. The mounting arrangement includes a stop which assures that the endgate does not swing backward into the beaters when down.